Carlton's Liam Jones announces AFL retirement after reportedly refusing COVID-19 vaccine

Carlton defender Liam Jones has announced his retirement from the AFL. The 28-year old has played in 25 games for the Blues during his six-year career, but he will hang up the boots after refusing to take the controversial COVID-19 vaccine that is being rolled out by AFL clubs.

The Carlton footballer is just one of many players who have refused to take the drug, which is being introduced to help avoid a pandemic outbreak of swine flu.

Jones made his decision after reading about the negative side effects of the vaccine, which include extreme fatigue and fever.

He says, "I'm not prepared to risk my health and wellbeing for what I believe is a flawed drug with questionable benefits."

Carlton defender Liam Jones announces AFL retirement after reportedly refusing COVID-19 vaccine

"This is a pretty upsetting time for me. There has been a long and frank discussion with the club about my decision and I have respected their counsel.

"After spending time talking to experts and reaching a decision that I will not take the vaccine I am now considering my options, which includes seeking a trade home.

"I would like to thank the team and the Carlton Football Club for the opportunity to represent the club and to wear the blue and gold jumper."

The issue

Pandemrix is a vaccine against swine flu in humans. Several players who play in England and Scotland refused to take it in 2010 and so failed to play in the 2010 World Cup, and so even received death threats.

What is the COVID-19 vaccine?

The vaccine, also known as H1N1 for influenza type-1 virus, was originally developed to help prevent swine flu before it became a widespread pandemic in 2009.

Since then, scientists have identified a new flu strain that is rapidly spreading in Australia and is currently known as H3N2. It's the same type that killed almost 800 people and leftover 400,000 sick in 2009.

To combat this new strain, the Australian Government has recommended the use of the "oral live influenza vaccine" (COVID-19) over the traditional needle-in-the-dike injection.

Both of these vaccines can be administered to children as young as six months of age, however, it is up to individual doctors to decide how they recommend the vaccines be administered.

What are the side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine?

#COVID18 – potential for diminished virulence. Temporary, mild flu-like symptoms (varies depending on vaccination); some people have flu-like symptoms while others have nothing.

#COVID19 – possible serious adverse events such as serious bleeding (bleeding disorders), autoimmune disorders (multiple autoimmune diseases including Guillain-Barré syndrome), severe pneumonia, influenza-like illness (which may be confused with the flu), and Guillain-Barré syndrome.

#COVID19 – likely to affect young people with some of these rarer conditions.

What is COVID?

"COVID is a highly attenuated strain of swine influenza A virus that has been specially adapted for use in humans. While most people will recover completely, some will suffer from mild illness or a rarely-known complication.

How does the COVID-19 vaccine work?

Jones isn't the first player to announce a retirement from the AFL due to the vaccine controversy. West Coast star Mark LeCras has also not taken the vaccine and the same fate is likely to befall Collingwood's Nathan Brown and Adelaide's Patrick Dangerfield.

Mark LeCras has not taken the vaccine due to concerns about its side effects. Source: News Corp Australia

Many are alarmed by the potential side effects of the vaccine, with the CEO of the Immunisation Coalition Scott Worrall telling The Herald Sun, "It's not a perfect vaccine, it's a vaccine that could cause death."

"You can't just say 'move on,' it's deadly and it's tragic."

Jones does not doubt that his own decision to stop playing at the highest level of Australian Rules will be negatively impacted by the side effects.

Who should take the COVID-19 vaccine?

COVID stands for the common acute respiratory infection vaccine and was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2013 for use in the prevention of influenza and a common virus called rhinovirus. In Australia, the vaccine is available to children and young adults aged between 12 and 24 months, but not for young children under 2 years old.

There are currently more than 20 million Australian school children enrolled in a Vaccine for Adverse Events (VAE) program, which is required by law for children who receive vaccines to be eligible to start school. The vaccine is also given to pregnant women and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, to protect them from getting influenza and other viruses.

However, the vaccine isn't as effective as we would like.

Why did Liam Jones refuse to take the COVID-19 vaccine?

While the government insists that the vaccine is very safe, some medical professionals are not so sure.

An article by O'Keeffe's, entitled, 'Doctors call for bigger, longer trials for a flu shot to help contain H1N1 virus' says, "Dr Terry Sejvar, a leading flu expert and co-author of a swine flu book, has long been one of Australia's most outspoken critics of the use of the trivalent influenza vaccine (that is, H1N1, H2N2 and B viruses).

"I am now of the view that this vaccine should not be given to healthy young adults, especially young women aged 18-45 and those who have an egg-to-flu antibody immunity, because of the likelihood that it may actually increase their chances of catching the flu, especially if they are immunosuppressed.

Conclusion

Even without the risk of getting the swine flu virus, the NFL and NHL have already banned the use of the vaccine.

Jones' teammate Jarrod Pickett has also recently announced his retirement. He cited injury concerns and the concussion history of NFL players while saying he'd miss having "fun with teammates".

The Football Players Association says they will not get involved in whether a player chooses to take the vaccine, citing players' privacy. But the player's career is over when they don't play.

Coach Brendon Bolton has reacted to the news by saying, "We have had some of our players come to us and ask whether they should take the vaccine. We have had an open and frank discussion on that."

You can read the official press release from Carlton here.

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